B.P.'s Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Thread (it's all here).....

Praxius

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Dec 18, 2007
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BBC News - US considers setting fire to Gulf of Mexico oil leak

Officials are considering setting fire to an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as efforts to stem a leak from a rig that exploded and sank are failing.

The coast guard is concerned that, unless controlled, the leak could cause one of the worst spills in US history.

The "controlled burn" could start later far from shore, said Coast Guard Rear Adm Mary Landry, who is in charge of the US clean-up effort.

She said work on sealing leaks using robotic submersibles could take months.

About 1,000 barrels (42,000 US gallons; 35,000 imperial gallons) of oil a day have been gushing into the sea since an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon platform last week caused the rig to sink.

Eleven of the rig's workers are still missing and presumed dead in the disaster off the Louisiana coast.

Adm Landry warned that if the well was not secured soon, "this could be one of the most significant oil spills in US history".

Controlled burn

A "controlled burn" would involve setting fire to an area of petroleum trapped by special containment booms on the water's surface. Environmental experts say birds and animals are more likely to escape a burning patch of water than an oil slick, although toxic fumes could endanger wildlife.

"We fully understand there are benefits and tradeoffs," said Adm Landry.

But she noted that with the spill moving toward land, the impact on Louisiana's coastline, which contains some 40% of the nation's wetlands and spawning grounds for countless fish and birds, had to be considered.

Controlled burns had been tried and tested before, and had been shown to be "effective in burning 50 to 95% of oil collected in a fire boom", she said......

What are your thoughts?

Good idea to burn or do you know of a better idea?
 

TenPenny

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 9, 2004
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Location, Location
Oil burns.
We have a problem with an oil slick in the Gulf.
Try burning it.

Sounds like a good plan to me. We have no objection to burning oil in other places, so I'd say the sooner the better.
 

Mowich

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Dec 25, 2005
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The burn is scheduled to start in less than an hour from now. I will certainly be watching it. I had to laugh when the reporter stated that no wildlife would be injured. Someone must be able to communicate with all the marine life.
 

gopher

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Jun 26, 2005
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I guess that because of this disaster we won't be hearing from too many right wingers as to how we absolutely must have more oil drilling or the known world will come to an abrupt end. It will be interesting to see how much BP will pay for it and how much subsidization the government will continue to give it.
 

Liberalman

Senate Member
Mar 18, 2007
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Since it's far from land it's a good idea but if they can't put out the fire by the time it gets to shore especially near a city then it would turn into a catastrophic event.
 

Mowich

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Dec 25, 2005
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It's not far from land any more, it's making landfall currently with high winds and thunderstorms expected

CNN is predicting that the environmental impact of this slick could be worse than that of the Exon Valdez spill. What a horrible price we pay in order to drive our cars, heat our homes and transport goods.
 

mabudon

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Mar 15, 2006
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Definitely agreed, this is going to be a gigantic mess- and from the articles I've read, it's going to be 3+ months before the actual flow can be stopped. Given that it's only been a week and already the slick is looking unstoppable, that's going to be 3+ months of ongoing disaster
 

Mowich

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Dec 25, 2005
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Definitely agreed, this is going to be a gigantic mess- and from the articles I've read, it's going to be 3+ months before the actual flow can be stopped. Given that it's only been a week and already the slick is looking unstoppable, that's going to be 3+ months of ongoing disaster

You betcha, mabudon. They discovered yet another leak yesterday so who knows how many more might be found. Glad to read that BP's shares are really taking a hit over this. Apparently they have lost about 25 billion since the spill was announced. Looks good on the a**holes.

You know the old saying 'never trust a politician?'. I say never trust the CEO of an oil company as they lie as easily as they breathe.
 

mabudon

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Mar 15, 2006
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The thing I really don't understand is why an operation with such massive implications has NO effective, proven contingency plan for such a thing.

I am inclined to believe that BP just may be playing a bit of a waiting game- like, that there are a few options that exist but have not been made public- probably drastic options that would hinder further use of this obviously oil-rich location- some kind of concrete "mausoleum" similar to the one used in Chernobyl comes to mind.

Either way, it'll be black times on the coast for some time now.